“I have abstained from voting so as not to create a perception of a conflict,” Burton repeats in boilerplate language on some of the public disclosure forms he is required to file when the situations arise.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal reviewed the “memorandum of voting conflict” forms for the Aviation Authority, Tampa Port Authority, Hillsborough Area Regional Transit and Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority over the same 22-month period.

The Business Journal’s examination followed Burton’s selection as chairman of the Aviation Authority board and comes at a time when the organization — seen as a key driver of regional economic development — is overhauling its policies and procedures, including voting conflicts.

Scores of local, state and national firms vie to do business at the airport.

As a matter of context, Burton has abstained from voting more than the cumulative total of 32 other board positions at the four agencies during the examined period. Some of those board seats have been replaced with new members, and some members serve on multiple boards, such as Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandra Murman.

The second highest number of abstentions came from Port Authority board member Stephen W. Swindal, chairman of Marine Towing of Tampa LLC, who cited conflicts six times during the period. Most board members had only one or two abstentions, if any.

“If a person is continuously abstaining from voting, the purpose of that person serving on the board becomes obsolete,” said University of Tampa John H. Sykes College of Business Dean Frank Ghannadian. He said Burton’s total “seems like pretty heavy abstention.”

Wide corporate representation

Burton is managing partner at the Florida law firm Broad and Cassel. His abstentions relate to the firm’s representation of clients such as TECO Energy Inc., Hardin Construction, and several banks and rental car companies that do business at Tampa International.

None of the abstentions were due to personal relationships, according to interviews with Burton, airport officials and the voting conflict forms.

Over the course of 25 meetings, nearly 200 votes were reviewed. That didn’t include routine votes such as approving minutes and agendas or other administrative or commemorative resolutions.

Public agency boards have “a higher standard of concern” about potential conflicts because of the public trust, said Roy McCraw, UT executive in residence and a former regional chairman and president of Wachovia. “If you can’t participate, you can’t lead,” he said.

On the other hand, if other board members are aware of the issues, it might not be too much of a problem, McCraw said.

Former Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Burton to the airport board in 2009. Crist, now in private practice with Morgan and Morgan, through an assistant declined to comment for this story.

Burton quickly became a leading figure in the 2010 ouster of TIA chief executive Louis Miller.

Burton followed Tampa businessman Al Austin as chairman in September. Stephen Mitchell, a partner in the law firm Squire Sanders, was on the board from 2001 to 2009. The airport said he abstained three times while chairman the last four years.

Burton and Aviation Authority General Counsel Gigi Rechel each said they are not aware of any complaints or problems that have resulted from Burton’s abstentions.

“If somebody chooses to believe that being extra cautious — if they want to call that something bad, there’s nothing I can do about it,” Burton said. “If anything, I’m probably going overboard.”

Tie vote

The firm represents the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, which raised some eyebrows earlier in Burton’s tenure with the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority.

“It seems if it’s not a conflict of interest, it’s an appearance of a conflict if his firm represents a big, competing authority,” former Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman told the St. Petersburg Times in February 2010.

State law doesn’t prevent Burton or other board members from discussing or influencing the vote from which they abstain, as long as they disclose the nature of the conflict. Chairmen are typically prohibited from making motions.

An abstention by Burton resulted in a tie vote on the five-member board when it considered a three-year auditing contract worth roughly $870,000. Moore Stephens Lovelace, ranked first for the contract by airport staff, was being challenged by second place ranked LarsonAllen LLP.

Daniel O’Keefe, who heads the governmental practice group at Moore Stephens, said he was aware of a connection between his firm and Burton’s firm because they both serve the Orlando Aviation Authority.

“At first we thought, ‘Oh, great. And then we thought, Oh, no,’” O’Keefe said.

The Hillsborough board split 2-2 between the two auditing firms. After more discussion, it agreed that LarsonAllen should have been ranked first and one member switched his vote in the second round.

Burton declined to say which way he would have voted.

“This comes up every now and then,” O’Keefe said. “Sometimes we do better than others as far as realizing the connections. We have a process to look for relationships to determine if we are even going to propose.”